


Delirium

by Prophylaxis



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: HeartGold & SoulSilver | Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver Versions
Genre: Character Study, Other, POV Alternating, Retcon Character, depending on how dark you want the fic to be, eusine is confusion, for a character who doesn’t even appear, i accidentally made eusine a manchild whoops, morty tries to help, or at least more of a manchild than usual, you can read eusine’s feelings for kris as either platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2019-12-30 05:09:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18308834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prophylaxis/pseuds/Prophylaxis
Summary: Morty remembers someone who doesn’t exist. Eusine remembers someone whoshouldn’texist.





	Delirium

There were three things Ethan found peculiar when he stepped into the Burned Tower.

First, that there were people inside, despite the sign outside warning against such notion.

Second, that the two adults didn’t immediately lecture Ethan on entering such a dangerous place. Instead, the one with brown hair approached him, telling him that his name was Eusine and he was here hunting Suicune.

Which lead to the third peculiar thing: That this man — despite claiming to be there for Suicune, despite Suicune being _clearly visible_ through the chasm — seemed more interested in Ethan.

There was a twinkle in Eusine’s eye as he spoke, one that grew after Ethan gave his name. While it was a little odd that the man seemingly knew who he was, Ethan paid the thought no mind. _I got three badges going on four_ , he thought, _I must be famous!_

Filled with pride, Ethan went to speak to the other man (Morty, he said his name was) when Eusine spoke again: “Ethan, isn’t your friend with you?”

“Oh, Lyra?” Ethan answered, “Uh, I dunno where she is. I last saw her on Route 34—“

He was cut off by a cheerful laugh from Eusine, “No, no, not her! Your other friend, Kris.”

Ethan was about to give a answer when the words caught in his throat. There was something about the name that seemed familiar, like it was the name of an acquaintance or some distant relative. _Maybe someone from New Bark has that name?_

Noticing Eusine waiting for a response, Ethan answered, “Kris isn’t my friend.”

Eusine continued to smile, “You sure? I could have sworn she was.”

Ethan shook his head, unjustifiable aggression rising within him, “I don’t think— I don’t _know_ anybody named Kris.”

Eusine continued to smile, “Really now, I understand if you two got in a fight, but pretending to not know her is—“

A hand lightly tapped his chest.

“Eusine,” Morty said, “Kris isn’t here.”

Eusine continued to smile, and it was here Ethan realized what was wrong with it. It didn’t feel genuine; there was no warmth behind it, no wrinkling around the eyes. It was as if it had been painted on, a caricature of what a smile should be.

An uncomfortable stillness settled in the area. Glancing about, Ethan spotted yet another figure standing in a deeper part of the tower. Silver wasn’t exactly his first choice in a conversational partner, but he was willing to take anyone to get out of this awkward situation.

Quickly excusing himself, Ethan briskly made his way towards his rival, Poke Ball in hand.

* * *

“Well! I suppose I should start digging if I want to catch a glimpse of Suicune.”

Morty knew what Eusine was trying to do. Anytime he brought up Kris in a conversation, he would switch the subject to Suicune before Morty could say anything.

Today though, he would have none of it, “What was that?”

Eusine ignored him, “I know it’ll just flee if I approach it, but it’s worth a shot!”

“Why did you bring up Kris to Ethan?”

Now it was Eusine’s turn to frown, “I know you said that I’m not supposed to talk about Kris to anyone but you, but Ethan is Kris’ friend, so...”

Morty gave a frustrated sigh. Eusine was partially correct; Ethan _was_ friends with Kris. But it was that qualifier that made things complicated.

* * *

In a sense, Morty met Kris before Eusine did.

He was able to see things that weren’t there. In addition to things that were physically out of his line of sight, it included things — objects, Pokemon, people — that could not be found anywhere in the world. When news broke out about the asteroid and the Devon Corporation’s plan to deal with it, Morty put the two and two together.

He was viewing an alternate universe.

One figure that stood out to him during his seeing sessions was a young girl, about 11, with blue hair tied into pigtails. She would appear frequently, regardless of wherever location he looked.

Initially, Morty didn’t give her much thought. That is, until Eusine one day mentioned befriending a girl whose physical description exactly matched.

Through Eusine, Morty learned a myriad of things about her, such as her name being Kris, her goal to become a Pokemon Champion, and her best friend, Ethan.

Morty had to hide his grimace as Eusine eagerly went on about her. He’s seen cases like that before, usually in the form of an elderly woman asking him to help find her husband. While he could find the husband during his seeing session, physically going to the location would yield nothing. Morty would later learn through the woman’s relatives that her husband died in the war.

Morty had figured that, due to the strong connection between the married couple, the woman retained memories of herself in an alternate world where her husband did not die.

Ergo, whoever this Kris was, she was an important person to Eusine some lifetime ago. And, just as he had done to all those kindly old women who screamed and cried at him, it was Morty’s job to bear the bad news.

One day, while Eusine had prattled on about Kris, Morty resolved to tell him, “Hey Eusine, about Kris...”

Eusine’s face had brightened, “Oh? You’ve finally met her?”

“Yes. Well, sort of. See, the thing about Kris is...”

Morty had trailed off as he tried to find his words.

“Eusine, Kris isn’t here.”

Eusine had blinked, “Pardon?”

Morty was about to explain further when a reflexive image of his latest client flashed in his head. The way her tears seemed to rip away at her face, disfiguring it. The way her hands grasped at his shirt, delicately and yet with such force. The way she begged him through her swollen lips to bring her husband back.

And he could do _nothing_.

Morty had turned his head. He couldn’t bear to see his friend in such a state. The love Eusine had for Kris transcended space and time. It was a beautiful illusion, one that Morty refused to break.

“Morty?” Eusine had asked in a quiet voice.

Morty had taken a deep breath, then turned back to Eusine, “Promise me something, will you? Promise me that you’ll only talk about Kris with me.”

“But why?” Morty’s proposal did nothing to ease Eusine’s worries.

“Kris exists. She’s as real as you and me. But other people don’t get her. They’ll get agitated if you bring her up.”

Eusine had given Morty a pointed stare, “That’s the same line you give your clients when you can’t find what they’re looking for. Are you seriously telling me—“

“ _No_ ,” Morty had vehemently shook his head, “No. She’s...she’s different. She’s a special case.”

“How so?” Eusine’s voice was as hard as stone.

Morty had winced, “She’s not like the other cases, you know, dead in one universe but alive in another. She’s alive, but she’s different. Looks different. Name’s different. Point is, she’s alive in this universe, but she’s not your friend.”

Eusine had continued to give Morty a hard stare, before letting out a long sigh, “You’re not making any sense. But, fine, I’ll keep your promise.”

Morty had given a relieved smile, _Who knows?_ he had thought, _Maybe cases like this exist, and I only get the heartbreaking ones because of my specialty in Ghost types._

At least, that was his wish.

* * *

“Remember, I asked you not to tell anyone else about Kris, not even if they would know her,” Morty said.

Eusine fidgeted with the ends of his cape, “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.”

After a few tense moments, Eusine clapped his hands together, his usual cheerful demeanour returning.

“I’ve been dawdling for too long,” he said, picking up his shovel, “At this rate, Suicune’s probably long gone!”

As he began to look for a spot to dig, Morty idly asked, “By the way, why’re you so obsessed with catching Suicune?”

Eusine scoffed, “I’ve told you like a dozen times. It’s the one thing I can’t do.”

He turned to face Morty.

“But,” Eusine said, a melancholic smile caressing his face, “Kris is interested in Suicune too. I feel like it’ll lead me to her.”

Morty nodded, then turned his gaze towards one of the many holes that dotted the ceiling. The brilliant blue sky filtered through these holes, bathing the tower in a soft glow. Morty closed his eyes.

However vain, he hoped Eusine’s dream would come true.

**Author's Note:**

> this was very spur of the moment so i don’t know what the fuck
> 
> this is less of a fanfic and more of a headcanon explanation  
> always wondered why morty was a seer despite not being a psychic type gym leader
> 
> so instead of just posting the headcanon on tumblr or whatever i was like LET’S MAKE A REALLY CONVOLUTED FIC ABOUT IT YEAH
> 
> got the motivation to write this after i somehow managed to type up my ocs biographies using only a touchscreen keyboard. like if i could do that then a short story shouldn’t be a problem (ha ha)
> 
> also the first fanfic i wrote in like 9 years, as well as the first i’ve published online instead of just showing it off to friends! *throws confetti*


End file.
